King plans immigration order lawsuit

Opposes initiative to stop deportation

August 8, 2012

HUMBOLDT - U.S. Rep. Steve King said Tuesday that he will sue President Barack Obama over an executive order that would stop the deportation of certain young illegal immigrants.

''I am bringing him to court and we're going to defend the Constitution of the United States and the separation of powers,'' the Republican from Kiron told a Humboldt audience.

King added that he's thinking about introducing a bill, which if it became law, would repeal everything Obama has signed into law.

The congressman, who's running against Democrat Christie Vilsack in the new 4th Congressional District this year, wasn't the only one to criticize the Democratic president during the summer picnic of the Humboldt County Republican Party.

A.J. Spiker, the chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, said Obama has been tearing the country apart ''from Day 1 with his socialist agenda of Obamacare.''

About 60 people attended the picnic in the Humboldt County Events Center at the county fairgrounds.

Earlier this year, Obama signed an executive order that would stop the deportation of law-abiding young illegal immigrants who came to the United States before they turned 17 and who are not yet 30 years old. To qualify for the exemption created by the order, the immigrants must have completed high school or served in the military.

King has long been a foe of what he calls amnesty for illegal immigrants. He said Tuesday that he decided to sue the president the day the executive order was announced. He said he believes Obama violated the Constitution by implementing a program that should only be created via the lawmaking process that involves Congress and the president.

''He has prosecutorial discretion, but he does not have the ability to grant blanket amnesty to entire classes of people,'' King said.

The lawsuit may be filed before Labor Day, according to the congressman.

He repeated his belief that repealing the health care reform law that Republicans call Obamacare must be the top priority. Every aspect of the law must be repealed, he said.

''I believe there's a certain regenerative DNA in Obamacare,'' he said. ''If you leave any of it there, it will grow back on you like a bad seed.''

Also, he repeated his call for a constitutional amendment that would require a balanced federal budget.

''If you don't tighten the belt on Congress by insisting upon a balanced budget amendment to our Constitution, I'm afraid we don't have five years before we go off the cliff into the abyss of an economic collapse for our country,'' he said.

Individual initiative, not government programs, should be the source of economic growth, according to King.

''Find your own opportunities,'' he said. ''Create your own opportunities. It isn't up to us to carry a job out, hand it to somebody and say 'Does this suit you?'''

Spiker said the Republican Party will continue to stand for low taxes, less regulation, and the sanctity of life, beginning at conception. He did not talk about his plea to vote Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins out of office because of his role in legalizing same sex marriage.